The European Union parliamentary delegation which visited Dhaka recently has fears that if the opposition political forces are simply sidelined, then other forces including extremist forces might fill the void.
“That means the terrorists. That’s a big, big risk, big, big danger,” Josef Weidenholzer, one of the delegation members, said in a briefing at the EU parliament yesterday.
The delegation, led by lawmaker Cristian Dan Preda and members Josef Weidenholzer and Karol Karski, arrived in Dhaka on February 17 and stayed until Februrary 20. They had over 20 meetings with government officials, members of civil society, journalists, and others.
Josef said though Bangladesh is a large Muslim country, and it settled the thing well earlier, there is big danger for the next few months.
“There could be extremist groups who emerge, and they don’t want to cooperate with anybody, including the government. That’s really a matter of concern for us,” he said. He suggested that EU work more closely with the country.
About the arrest warrant against BNP chief Khaleda Zia, he said: “We took note that yesterday the arrest warrant has been issued against Khaleda Zia who is the head of the opposition. Though that is not implemented yet. I’m afraid this will lead to dramatic escalation ... the arrest will be very, very problematic.”
The lawmaker said there was conflict in the whole of it, and more than 60 people died in these clashes, and seven to 10 thousand members of the opposition have been arrested.
“This conflict, these clashes are difficult to resolve. Both parties are really digging the hills in,” he said.
Josef said: “The past explains the present. Quite honestly, we did not see any scope of compromise. Everybody is being in a very rigid stance.”
The delegation had meetings with many statekholders. including Nobel Laureate Mohammad Yunus, and everybody said nothing is going to be changed within the next few weeks, and the conflict could be turned into a civil war.
“The security situation there is very tensed ... unfortunately they way things are headed is a very negative tendency,” he said.
The lawmaker said they did not go beyond Dhaka because of the security situation.
The main mission of the delegation was to inquire about the post Rana Plaza situation in the country.
He said that the media landscape was very lively in Bangladesh, but it’s not that much of a free place to express opinions freely, which was mentioned by different interlocutors.
“The situation of media freedom is not that satisfactory.”
About the foreign donation act, he said they were told that these restrictions on funding were due to terrorist activities.
They also discussed the death penalty, women's and children's rights, Minorities, indigenous minorities, and Rohingya issues.
